Off
by Zelda rules
Summary: The Fire Lord leaves to lend a hand to his friends in Republic City, leaving the royal family feeling off... Cover art by Viria13. She rocks.


**AN: ****Hello beautiful readers! This is just a short little one-shot I decided to write out of boredom/need for a homework break. I am currently working on writing other stories and one shots (I promise its coming Au Pair, I just need some ideas!) but I have a terrible case of writers block, so, yea. **

**This fic takes place during Yakone time.**

**Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review! They make my life a million, billion, gazillion times better!**

There was definitely something off about the palace that night. It couldn't be the weather, because it was the same sticky heat that it always was. It wasn't the warm wind brushing against the scarlet curtains in the main hall or the humming sounds of insects in the gardens. And it couldn't be the gentle, thumping sounds of footsteps coming from the patrolling guards outside.

But there was definitely something. Something off about the palace that night that no one could really put their finger on. No one except the Fire Lady, that is. She knew _exactly_ what was off, and because of it, she wasn't getting a wink of sleep.

She had been lying in her oversized, canopied bed for over three hours now, unable to drift off into any form of sleep. She just lay there, gently tracing patterns on the empty side of the bed next to her with her long, pale fingers. She knew that the empty side was what was keeping her awake, causing everyone else in the palace to feel off too.

Usually, the Fire Lord didn't travel without his family. Usually, he would act as though his political world meetings were some sort of vacation, and bring them along with. But this time was different. There was danger in the newly developing city. Danger that he knew his friends couldn't handle alone. Danger that he would never want to expose his family to.

And so he left behind his wife and young daughter in the safe confines of the palace for what he hoped would only be one night. But it was the second night he was gone, and the family was already starting to worry.

Sighing tiredly, Mai rolled over to the other side of the bed and buried her face in her pillow, unable to look at the empty side anymore. After a few, what seemed to be, very long moments, sleep finally started to consume Mai's thoughts, only to be interrupted by a light knocking on the bedroom door.

The Fire Lady groaned, deciding to ignore the late night visitor.

"Mom?" Came a small voice followed by a door creak. Mai groaned in annoyance again as the quiet thumps of her daughter's footsteps got closer to her bed. The young princess poked her mother's head that was covered in dark, silky locks much like her own.

"Mom?"

"Hmmmm?" came a mumble from somewhere inside the pillow.

"Mom?"

"mmm?"

"Mom!" the young princess shouted in her ear.

The Fire Lady didn't flinch. Instead, she lazily turned to face the five year old.

"What do you want Honora?" She muttered tiredly.

The child rubbed her eyes. "I can't sleep. I miss daddy."

Mai sighed and pulled the soft, burgundy blankets over her head. "He'll be home tomorrow." She told the child, even though she wasn't very sure it was the truth. "Go back to bed."

Honora put her hands on her hips stubbornly. "But I can't sleep."

Mai mumbled something from beneath the many blankets but Honora couldn't hear her.

"What?" the young princess asked, trying to make words out of what her mother was muttering. She pressed her ear to her mother's buried head and could just barely make out the words, "go way 'nora."

The young princess rolled her large, amber orbs. Standing on the tips of her toes, Honora firmly placed her small hands on the large mattress and hoisted herself up, squirming and struggling to lift herself with her tiny arms. When she finally managed to pull her legs up, she scrambled onto the bed, crawling over her mother who was groaning loudly in irritation.

"Honora, what are you doing?" Mai questioned without peeking her head out of the blankets.

"Going to sleep." The girl told her. The annoyed Fire Lady pulled the blankets off her head so only her dark, golden eyes were exposed.

"You have your own bed Honora." She told her daughter as if she didn't know. "Go back to your room."

The princess shook her head and dug her face into her father's pillow, ebony locks falling in front of her face.

"No." She muttered.

Mai sighed. "Why not?"

"Because," the young princess mumbled. "It reminds me of Daddy in here. It smells like him."

The Fire Lady poked her whole head out from under the blankets now, an amused look on her usually glum features.

"Yeah?" She wondered and the girl's head shook in the pillow like a nod. Wrapping an arm around her daughter, Mai pulled her closer. "What does he smell like?"

Honora snuggled into her mother's embrace and swiped her locks out of her face. " Like burnt stuff." She explained. "And tomato-peppers."

Mai gave a rare chuckle. "Tomato-peppers? Your father smells like tomato-peppers?"

"Yea." The girl agreed with a small smile. "And the turtleduck pond."

"He does spend a lot of his time there." Mai said dryly although there was a growing smile on her lips. "He's always liked those turtleducks."

Honora giggled quietly but her smile faded fast. "Mom? What's a bloodbender?" she asked suddenly, growing serious.

Taken aback by the question, the Fire Lady frowned. "Where did that come from?"

Honora pulled the blankets closer to her face. "I heard some guards talking in the garden. They said that a man in Republic City can bloodbend. And that's where Daddy is."

Mai sighed and tucked her daughter's hair behind her ear. She knew that Honora was a smart kid, learning about the Avatar, bending, world politics, and balance at a young age because of the people she was closest to and the happenings in her own home. It was easy for her to hear what was going on in the world because of her father's title. And even if she didn't understand it at the time, her curiosity and ongoing questions allowed her to find out soon enough.

"A bloodbender is a waterbender who bends the water in a person's blood." Mai explained. She knew her answer was a bit blunt, but so was her daughter's question, and she knew her daughter hated when people beat around the bush.

The young princess's eyes widened a bit. "So…..they can…_control_ you?"

Mai nodded solemnly. "They're not good guys. Bloodbending is actually illegal."

"Is someone going to bloodbend Daddy?" Honora snuggled closer to her mother.

Mai shook her head and forced a rare smile in order to comfort her daughter, and possibly herself. "Nah, I'm sure your Aunt Toph already through the guy in prison."

"Okay…" Honora mumbled and pressed her nose into her father's pillow.

"Now go to sleep," Mai ordered. "I'm tired and you will be too in the morning. You have lessons, remember?"

"Hmm hmm." She mumbled in agreement. Closing her eyes, the young princess let the familiar scent of her father lull her to sleep. And after her breathing slowed and evened out, her mother dozed off too.

Xxx

Opening the door as quietly as possible, an exhausted Zuko stepped into his bedroom and could see that the morning sun was just beginning to peek through the thin gaps between the curtains. Yawning tiredly, he made his way over to the colossal bed in the middle of the room, hoping that he could get at least one hour of shut eye. When he reached the end of the bed, he could spot the very top of his wife's head poke out from underneath the covers. He smiled. Only Mai would feel the need to burry herself in ten blankets in such hot weather.

The Fire Lord quietly moved over to her side of the bed, brushing her bangs aside and revealing her closed eyes. As he leaned down to quickly peck her forehead, something else caught his eye. His small girl snuggled up to her mother closer than Mai would ever allow during the daytime. Both of the princess's hands were clasped tightly under her head, and her sleeping features covered with tresses of her hair.

Zuko smiled. He had felt kind of off without having his family with him in Republic City, but seeing them together now made him feel complete again.

**AN: ****Not really how I wanted it to turn out, but I hope at least some of you enjoy it. Sorry if there was a lot of mistakes. Me tired...**

**Leave a review pretty please:)**


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